Demon of Redemption
by Tiki Rane Gobell
Summary: ANaruto made a costly mistake, and now, in all the years he had left, he would become a Demon of Redemption to save his very soul. SasuNaru. Yaoi.
1. The Most Costly Mistake

A/N: I was sitting there trying to finish the next chapter of Parthenogenesis when this idea suddenly ran into my head. The ideas kept coming and coming, so I grabbed an old notebook and started writing and writing. This is what it came out to be:

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Warnings: Rated M for strong language, graphic violence, future limes/lemons, MALE/MALE! SasuNaru.**

**Demon of Redemption**

**By: Tiki Rane Gobell**

**Chapter 1: The Most Costly Mistake**

The rain was falling from the dark clouds above relentlessly. Wave after wave of water was caught by the winds to be thrown sideways into faces and buildings, not that there were any of either out in Konoha that night. Lightning ripped through the sky seeming to shatter it into sharp edges. Thunder could be heard, even over the splitter-splatter of the rain and the howling of the wind.

All was gone- gone, gone, GONE! Everything and everyone except for one person- a teenage boy. He was completely covered in mud and blood as he lay sprawled on the ground, arms wide as if he dared the lightning to come hit him…no…as if he _prayed_ that lightning would come and strike him right then.

The only bit of his skin clean from the mud and blood was the twin tears trails down his cheeks.

He cried.

He cried for those who could cry no longer.

He cried for everyone he let down.

He cried for every promise he had left unfulfilled.

He cried for everyone, everyone except himself. He did not deserve to shed tears over himself. He was unworthy. It was gone. All of them were gone, and it was his fault.

He was too careless. They all were, but he was the most dangerous in his carelessness. They were happy. They were returning from having just saved the Kazekage against all odds. Akatsuki had kidnapped the red-headed demon-container, Gaara. They removed Shukaku from him, killing Gaara in the process. And yet the old lady Chiyo was able to bring him back at the cost of her own life. They were all saddened by this loss, but then, they were gladdened by the Kazekage's return to the living. He was free at last of his demonic torment, and so they celebrated. But on the way back, euphoric over their unlikely success, they got careless. Shinobi could not afford to get careless.

They were ambushed, only a few miles outside Konoha. They were almost home. They thought they were safe. But the elite jounin squad from Rock proved otherwise.

Their numbers were too great for the returning group of Konoha ninja. They were overpowered easily. The Rock nins were going to attack Konoha- a suicide mission, yes, but it would leave Konoha weak, weak enough for the sound nins to finish the job they had started years before during a fateful Chunin Exam.

So the Konoha group kept fighting, fighting for their home. Kakashi went first, using his body in a last minute move to protect his students. Gai was next. He would race Kakashi to the afterlife in their final competition between rivals. Sakura was gone next- she could not continue long under such odds. Lee put up a good fight, but he was poisoned when trying to protect Neji's blind spot. Neji went next without the protection over his blind spot. TenTen was taken down protecting her teammates' bodies. Finally, Naruto was the only one still fighting. Tears ran down his cheeks at his comrades' deaths as the voice of the Kyuubi called out to him louder, and louder, and louder. He tried to throw his all into the fight. But his all was not enough. He brought out the demon, heeded its calls, its promises of power. Perhaps he should have let the Rock nins kill him then. Konoha may have had more survivors.

The demon came out and destroyed the rock nins swiftly, but Kyuubi wanted more blood and more pain. Naruto had spent too many years under Jiraiya learning how to pull the demon's chakra out at will, and now the seal was too weak. Naruto was too weak. He had watched his team and friends be killed right before his eyes. He was numb inside. He had no more will left. He became blind to the world.

Kyuubi took control. Chakra gushed out of the bewhiskered boy into the shape of a nine-tailed fox. The Kyuubi returned to Konoha to finish the job it had started over a decade earlier. It destroyed everything- every building, every road, every person.

And then its chakra waned. Naruto regained feeling, and he hurt. The seal was reinstated, weak, but holding back the Kyuubi once more. And still, Naruto hurt. He remembered finding himself laying on the ground amongst the destruction. He knew it was the villagers' blood upon his body. He knew he was the cause of every death.

The sky clouded up and it began to rain and storm. And he cried, cried for what he had done, for his carelessness in guarding the demon.

He wanted to die. He had broken his promise to himself. He had allowed himself to become weaker than the demon in will power and determination. It had won control, even if the control was brief, it was devastating. All of Konoha had paid for his mistake. Their nightmare, their fear that the Kyuubi would return to kill them all, it had been the last thing they had all seen before the red chakra had destroyed them. Their terror must have been great.

Naruto knew not how long he had laid there on the muddy ground. He cared not. It could have been hours, days, or weeks. He did not know. He did not move. The weather changed from sun to clouds to rain to sun, again and again, but he took no notice. The sun and the moon switched positions in the sky, and still he did not see. Consciousness came and consciousness left, but he did not remember. He did not move for comfort. He did not move for water, nor food. He wanted to die and to die of thirst and starvation was the most painful way for him at the moment, and he believed he deserved the pain and the suffering for all that he had inflicted.

But Kyuubi still would not let him die. Could years pass and he still be laying there waiting for death? Would Kyuubi ever release him from his misery?

Naruto finally found some will power. His blue eyes opened in determination. If Kyuubi would not let him die to face his punishment in the afterlife, Naruto would have to begin it now. He would give up everything that he cherished. He would work solely for the benefit of others, leaving nothing for himself. Everything he did, every good, selfless act, would go to redeem his guilty soul, little by little, so that when he did finally die, perhaps his soul would not be as stained by the blood of innocents as it was right then. He would fight, but never for himself. He would fight for all those souls he sent early to their judgement, and maybe then, after he had saved enough lives, repaid his debts to the world, shed enough of his own blood for the blood others had shed unwillingly for him, he would have redeemed himself.

The last jutsu he would ever use would be a sealing jutsu to lock up all but the necessary flow of chakra in his body. He would earn his salvation with his own two fists, by his own power. No chakra meant no chance of Kyuubi ever gaining control of him again. He had shut the door that was the beast's way out.

Yet, even so, in his own eyes - Kyuubi locked away or not – Naruto's soul was still as tainted as a demon. And now, in all the years he had left, he would become a Demon of Redemption to save his very soul.

O0o.TBC.o0O

A/N: Kinda dark, ne? I'm not saying that Naruto really is responsible for killing everyone, only that this is how he is thinking. He is holding himself responsible, even though it was actually Kyuubi doing the killing.


	2. Susumu

Chapter 2: A Legend is Born

They say that, even though one bad deed is enough to condemn a man, one good deed is not enough to redeem him. Naruto worked for years and years for salvation for all the lives he took when he was careless in guarding the Kyuubi. He took up the sword though not to hurt by it but to use it to protect the innocent. He never killed. Even with his destroyed spirit and soul, he still had the gift of conversion. He could make others see their wrong, "whip their asses into gear", and even "remove the sticks shoved up their asses," to quote a certain Demon of Redemption.

Naruto had honed his own skills and increased his own strength. He had no chakra to use- he had sealed it all away. Everything he did was on his own power alone, and he was great. The bad guys he met that he couldn't convert into good-enough guys never fell to his hands. Instead, he rallied those the person had hurt to kill him. A just murder was better than one at his own hands, Naruto said.

Naruto had almost forgotten his name. No one had called him it in years. He traveled namelessly through the country, saving those he could, and, as he traveled, the people he helped asked him his name, and all he would tell them was that he was a Demon of Redemption. Still they begged him for a name, and still he gave none. So, soon they fashioned him a name of their own: Shoukinto- Redemption.

Naruto's world became a lonely world (ironic because of his growing fame). His alias was a name whispered among the oppressed, the down-trodden, and those who had little hope left. People would send for his help, search high and low, but he only let those with good intentions find him. He never turned a justified need down.

Yet, he remained an enigma for all, but most of all for those sent to catch him. All that was known was that he always wore all black: Black boots, black pants, black belt, black tank top, black cloak, black sheath for his black sword, black mask (in honor of his late sensei), black bandana over his yellow locks, and a black ceramic mask like a hunter-nin of death.

"Why does he wear black? Why does he call himself a demon?" Some would ask. They would say to themselves, "He is our saving angel. Why does he not think of himself as so too?"

Naruto, or Shoukinto rather, had much renown. They say he was the one who destroyed all of Orochimaru's foul labs- that he tried to cure all those tested upon inside, and those he couldn't save, he granted a painless death. They say those are the only lives the Demon of Redemption ever took. They say he did not touch Orochimaru, but left him to all those he had deceived. They say Orochimaru was eventually killed by his own apprentice, that Uchiha.

They also say that he was there when the dark organization, Akatsuki, was destroyed. They say he organized the best ninja of all the countries together into an unbeatable team. They say Shoukinto only ordered for one of the members of the Dawn Organization to be left alive - Uchiha Itachi – and when asked why, he said, "For a friend." It was heard that Itachi was killed only weeks later by his own brother.

He was there at every breaking of misused and abusive power, and so they began to call him a ghost. They said he could disappear within a second, only to reappear when someone else called out for his aide.

Naruto traveled through every country saving and helping anyone he could, regardless of their past or their beliefs.

Some believed he was a shinobi, others believed that he was just a samurai with his black sword that protected, but Shoukinto claimed allegiance to none.

But not everything 'they said' was true. They said he never spoke at all, but 'they' had not asked the right people. A young child would say that he had spoken soft words of comfort and support through a dark night when he had saved them. A converted enemy would say that he had spoken words of meaning and conviction when he had spared their lives.

It remained this way for a decade. He was a living legend. However, at 25, Naruto saved a person that would help him find his final redemption at last, and that person was a young boy of eight.

O0o.o0O

He was running, running faster than he ever had in his eight short years. He tried to push his blue-black bangs out of his obsidian eyes as he ran, but they just flopped stubbornly back into his vision. He should have listened to his father. He said to stay in the room where it was safe, not to venture off, they were in dangerous territory. His father had then went out to collect information from the village they were currently in, Grass.

His father was always out collecting information. He wanted to find some man. He had been searching for the man for years, always telling Susumu, his son, to wait where it was safe. As Susumu grew bored, he also grew rebellious. Even when his father left him a training exercise to do while he waited, it was never enough to keep him entertained. He was a child! Susumu wanted to explore the villages they stopped at!

Unfortunately, the village's ninja didn't want him exploring. Of course, they also did not take too kindly to the boy calling them "stiff bastards that needed to get the sticks surgically removed from their asses." And if that wasn't it, maybe it was that he had then proceeded to shoot them the bird while challenging, "I can take all of you. You're Grass-nins, and even an eight-year-old like me knows that Grass is the weakest of all the hidden villages!"

Ninja do not like to be taunted, and these ninja especially did not like to be taunted about their strength by a foreigner, and, by their reckoning, a foreigner could easily go permanently missing by their hands, and no one would ever be more the wiser. Hence the running.

For as long as he could remember, Susumu's father had taught him to train, taught him to fight, and taught him to survive. And all of that training paid off as all the group chasing him gave up, all except for one.

"Give it up, Taichi," one of his comrades told the Grass-nin still chasing Susumu, "It's just a brat. You don't _have_ to kill him, you know? He doesn't even know what he's talking about."

Taichi responded as he jumped through the limbs in the forest, "That brat needs to learn his place! I don't give any mercy to stupid people, even stupid little brats."

Taichi's companion gave up and returned to the village leaving Taichi to chase the boy by himself. Taichi would give the boy some credit- he certainly could give a good chase, but Taichi was older and had much more experience and endurance than the boy. The brat stood no chance.

Suddenly, the boy tripped over a root, and his exhaustion caught up with him. He was breathing heavily, trying to get back up on his feet. The killer intent leaking from his pursuer told him that the grass nin was serious, that the shinobi would kill him.

The grass nin burst into sight through some bushes.

"Ha! Gotcha now, you little runt! I'll teach you not to disrespect your betters. It'll be a lesson you can take to the afterlife!"

Taichi drew a deadly-looking curved sword, licking the blade for effect. The boy couldn't help but shiver- this was the end for him. He was too tired from running to even defend himself. The grass nin pulled back his blade to kill the boy.

Susumu closed his eyes. He could not watch the final stroke that would end his short life.

Metal clashed on metal.

Susumu's eyes flashed open to see a black blade meeting the curved one.

Taichi yelled, "What the Hell?"

Both the boy and the grass nin followed the black-metal blade up to an arm that protruded from beneath a black cloak and then to a black ceramic mask.

They were united in their gasp, "The Demon of Redemption."

A quick twitch of the Living Legend's wrist sent Taichi's blade flying away from him.

Taichi backed away from the black-dressed figure. He had heard the stories. He knew who had caught him.

"Please, please, don't kill me!" he begged, "have mercy!"

"Mercy?" asked Shoukinto, "Have you ever shown anyone mercy? Truthfully, now?"

"N-no," stuttered Taichi. When Shoukinto asked for the truth, he got it. Such was his reputation. The grass nin was scared for his life. He begged again as the Demon took a step forward, "I'll start! If you let me go, I promise I will start showing mercy. I promise!"

"Promises are easily forgotten and broken," responded Shoukinto. His sword hand made four quick twitches and Taichi felt pain over his heart.

Oh Kami! He was going to die!

But then most of the pain receded. He looked down to see an "M" cut into his skin above his heart. His shirt was ripped to match.

"That 'M' stands for mercy. Remember your promise whenever you see it. If not, I will kill you the next time I see you," Shoukinto threatened untruthfully. He didn't kill, but the nin didn't need to know that.

Taichi nodded frantically, not trusting his voice yet. He backed away bowing and then was gone from sight, jumping back through the trees.

That left Susumu alone with Shoukinto. He was still shaking all over, but now it was probably due to the cold. Winter's in Grass Country got quite chilly.

Shoukinto picked the boy up off the ground and allowed him to share the warmth of his cloak. It surprised Naruto that the boy didn't even flinch at his touch. He seemed familiar. The boy looked up at his masked face with curiosity and maybe a tad bit of awe.

The boy closed his mouth when he finally realized that it had been open.

"You spoke…earlier to the grass nin…you spoke!" The boy said excitably.

Naruto raised a quizzical brow only to remember that the boy wouldn't be able to see it.

"I did," he said simply.

"But they say you never speak!"

"They were misinformed," said Naruto. He lied. Generally, he really didn't speak. Mainly only to children did he ever care to. Being nice to a child can make all the worldof difference to them. Naruto knew that very well.

"How did you know where I was and that I needed you?" asked the boy amazed.

"I didn't. You just happened to be on my way," answered the Legendary Demon of Redemption.

They fell into silence as Naruto continued to carry the boy.

"You help people. You save them, right?"

Naruto nodded.

"Then why do you call yourself a demon? You're more like an angel to me!" The boy said with an honest smile.

"You don't know me, kid."

"Does anyone?" the boy asked.

"You ask a lot of questions for a little boy," Naruto said, messing up the kid's hair.

The kid tried to fix his hair, saying, "You evade a lot of questions for a grown man."

"Hmpf," snorted Naruto behind his mask. "What's your name, kid?"

"Susumu," the boy answered.

"Okay, Sumusu-,"

"Susumu," the boy corrected.

"Whatever, kid. Since you're such a smart-talking young kid, I will allow you to ask just one more personal question about me," offered Naruto.

"Really? Will you answer it?" asked the kid hopefully.

"Maybe."

"Alright then, my question is: What's behind your mask? Are you ugly or something?"

Naruto felt his eyebrow give an involuntary twitch.

"Smart ass brat," muttered Shoukinto. Now, he had no choice but to take off his mask or the boy would go spreading the rumor that Shoukinto wore a mask because he was ugly. Luckily, however, he learned a tricked from his old sensei before he died.

Susumu's eyes grew wide as he watched the Legendary Shoukinto put a hand up to his mask to remove it. He watched, not blinking lest he miss it.

"Under my mask, Susumu," he said dramatically, "is…"

He pulled of the ceramic mask.

"…another mask."

Which was true, but this mask was a fabric mask that showed Shoukinto's tan skin from his blue eyes to his black bandana. So all he really saw was his blue eyes and blond eyebrows, great.

"Well, you don't _look _like you're ugly."

Naruto put his mask back on.

"Not half as ugly as you at least," Naruto chuckled. He was starting to warm up to the boy. And chuckle? It had been years since he last chuckled.

The laughter died down.

"So…where are we going?" Susumu asked. He had just been letting Shoukinto carry him to a place he didn't know. If his father found out, he was sure to get a scolding, not that he wouldn't already.

"Back to Grass," Naruto answered.

"Why?"

"Because that is where you came from, is it not?"

"Yeah, my father and me are staying there for a while so that he can collect information."

"Then I will bring you back to him. Who is he?" Naruto asked. That would forever take the top question for his list of 'Questions-He-Wished-He-Had-Never-Asked.

The boy answered, "Uchiha Sasuke."

O0o.TBC.o0O


	3. Interwoven Paths

**Chapter 3: Interwoven Paths**

Generation after generation of Uchihas had been born with the typical Uchiha Temperament: Distant, proper, silent, and humorless. However, every once in a while, a black sheep would be born into the family: a trouble-maker, rude, loud, and with an overly large funny bone.

Sasuke should have been angry that his only son and heir to the clan had been born a black sheep, but he could not find it within himself to be more than temporarily annoyed by the boy. Susumu was just too much like Sasuke's dead best friend for Sasuke to get angry at him.

It had been a little after Sasuke had struck down Orochimaru that the Uchiha had decided to set his route to take him past Konoha. He did not plan on staying. He wished merely to observe how his once-friends were faring and coming into their own. A little part of him just really wanted to see Naruto, to maybe try to apologize for sticking a hand through his chest at their last meeting, but the Uchiha knew that he would not be able to leave Konoha again if he spoke to the kitsune boy. He knew Naruto would convince him to stay. Maybe Sasuke would never have left Konoha in the first place had it been Naruto who intercepted him instead of Sakura. But the past was the past. Sasuke was stronger than ever. It was almost time to take on his brother, to kill him. Still, he took enough time to visit Konoha as a silent observer. When he got there, however, he found something he never expected – absolutely nothing.

Everything had been destroyed - A hole in the middle of a land once so friendly to all. Now, it was the site of a massacre. Was everyone of his generation dead? Was all of Konoha dead? The more he searched, and the more people he spoke to in neighboring towns, the more he had to admit that everyone he had once known, once shared a form of camaraderie with, was dead, gone from the earth with not so much as a grave marker to remember them by. Sasuke came close to crying that night. The pain was immense, so immense, he felt his bloodline evolving. Mangekyo was now his. But still, was the cost of all the people he knew worth it whether he had taken their lives or not? Did pain of the heart unlock the bloodline? If so, it was truly a cursed bloodline.

Nevertheless, Sasuke continued on his journey to fulfill his ambition to kill his brother. When he used the Mangekyo against his brother, it felt not like he was fighting his brother alone, but rather the entire lost population of Konoha had lent their strength to him. He struck down his brother. That was the first part of his ambition. The next part of his ambition seemed to be his only goal in life now, almost. He also had a growing curiosity. Through both the deaths of Orochimaru and Itachi, there was the same person shadowing his victories – this Demon of Redemption. The Legend claimed to have saved Itachi for a friend, but if that was true, wouldn't Shoukinto save Itachi again from death at his brother's hands? The only answer Sasuke could come up with was that Shoukinto had saved Itachi so that Weasel could be killed by Sasuke. If that was true, then that meant that the Living Legend counted Sasuke among his friends, an interesting thought.

Sasuke did eventually get his heir to his clan, Susumu, but he remained curious as to who this Demon actually was. So that became his next ambition in life. It proved a tricky ambition. Shoukinto was like smoke, and Sasuke was like the hand trying to catch it.

Now, Sasuke was here in Grass Country in the middle of a cold winter searching for this smoke-of-a-person. Years of searching had led to Sasuke learning the habits of said Legend. Every winter, he seemed to always return to Grass to provide aide to the poor- the ones that would normally starve or freeze to death during the harsh months. He was sure he would find the Demon of Redemption on this chase.

But more importantly, as Sasuke returned to his hotel room, where was his son?

O0o.o0O

Naruto faltered in his steps. Did the boy just say what he thought he did?

"Sa..Sasuke?" he whispered. It had been a long time since that name had left the kitsune-container's lips, yet it still felt comfortable to say, easy on the tongue.

The name alone awakened memories Naruto had stored away, locked away in sections of his mind that he labeled "Happy Days" and shut the lid to. What was the box doing open? Naruto didn't count himself worthy enough to allow himself hope that he would see Sasuke again- that would make Naruto happy, and Naruto was not living to be happy anymore. It was other people's happiness he strove for. The guilt of allowing Kyuubi to kill all of Konoha still hung over Naruto like a dark cloud. It climbed up him like vines that slowly tightened, making it difficult to move, to breath, to go on with life, and they kept tightening up, slowly draining all the life out of him. Didn't vines die? Was there a way to escape from the guilt?

"Yep. He's my father! Do you know him?" Susumu chattered, making Naruto come back to the present.

He began to walk again, strengthening the grip he had on the boy. Of course the boy was Sasuke's son- the hair, the eyes, the line of his nose. It all fit.

"I did," answered Naruto.

Susumu blinked at the man. _Did? _His father was most definitely still alive. "Don't you mean you _do _know him? It's not like he's dead or anything."

Dead. So many were and it was Naruto's fault. Sasuke may not be dead- the sole survivor of Uchiha Clan Massacre, and now, one of the few that survived the destruction of Konoha. Naruto had made a promise to Sakura that he would bring Sasuke back to Konoha, but where would he bring him now? There was no Konoha. It was just another promise he had broken.

"I haven't seen him for many years," answered Naruto solemnly.

Susumu could feel the heaviness of sorrow and memory in the air. He felt like an intruder in someone else's memories. He fell silent, and remained silent all the way to the border of the hidden village of Grass.

O0o.o0O

Sasuke rarely got panicked. He had enough trust in his abilities that he believed nothing was too hard for him. However, after overhearing some Grass nins talking about some smart-mouthed brat that another nin, Taichi, had vowed to kill, Sasuke could help but feel a little panicked.

He was rushing through the village when he heard a familiar voice shouting.

"DAD! Daaa-aaad!"

Sasuke turned around to see Susumu running toward him, then jumping, then nearly tackling him in a hug. Sasuke allowed the boy to do so, because he wished that his father had let him do it at a young age.

"Susumu. Why weren't you in the room?" Sasuke questioned, fixing the boy with a hard, onyx stare.

Susumu gave him a charming smile, which told Sasuke that the boy hoped it would make him forgive the boy without punishment. "Well, dad. See, I'm a young boy and all, and I was bored. So! Being the solver of problems I am, I decided I would just go for a tour of the village. But then there were these jerk shinobi who thought they knew everything, so I politely informed them of their errors." Sasuke took this to mean that Susumu had cussed them out. "But they were asses and didn't take to kindly to the information, so they started chasing me. I led them on a merry chase until they all gave up except one. He was the Ass-King of Asses, dad. He said he was going to kill me. And then, right before he makes his final strike, Shoukinto is there, and WHAM! The other guy is running off!"

"Shoukinto?" Sasuke asked desperately. Forget that his son had disobeyed his orders, that his son was almost killed, here was information on the man he had been searching years for! And the man had saved his son? It seemed as though the Demon liked to help Sasuke.

"Yeah Dad! He's right there!" Susumu shouted in Sasuke's ear, pointing towards the outskirts of town.

Sasuke's eyes widened and his neck snapped up to search for this Demon of Redemption. "Where?"

"Ther..e…er…Wait," Susumu looked around confusedly, "Where did he go? He was just standing there," he pondered quietly. He wanted to show the man to his father. They used to be friends, apparently. Couldn't they be friends again? They both seemed so lonely.

"It's okay, Susumu. Shoukinto is always like that. He's the one that we've been trying to find on all these trips," Sasuke said, guiding his son back to their hotel. He didn't bother to search for the Legend because Sasuke knew that he would have disappeared without a trace…like always.

"Really? Did you two used to be friends?" Susumu asked excitably.

"No. Why would you ask that?" Sasuke questioned.

"Well, Shoukinto said that he knew you, but that he hadn't seen you in many years."

"Is that so?" Susumu nodded. "What else did he say?"

"He didn't really say that much, mostly just avoided questions. But then I asked him what was under his mask, and asked him to show me."

"And did he?"

Susumu nodded again. "He took off his ceramic mask and underneath that was…"

Sasuke leaned in, anxious to hear more, "What?"

"Another mask. But this one came to here," he traced under his eyes, "and so you really couldn't see his face, but he had the bluest eyes I'd ever seen, kinda cat shaped."

"I remember one of my old friends had blue eyes, the one I always tell you stories about before bed," Sasuke told his son, fondly remembering memories of his lost comrades.

"The dobe?" asked Susumu.

"Yes."

"Could he be Shoukinto?" inquired the boy.

"I doubt it, son, he has been dead for ten years." A look of pain floated across those black orbs. Sasuke had mellowed out after he had fulfilled all of his childhood ambitions. Don't take this to mean that he was completely different- he was still one to enjoy a good brood or ten, and he was still relatively quick to anger, and he would kill anyone who got in his way or decided to get smart with him (except his son, but Sasuke figured there wasn't much use to spawning if you were just going to kill your spawn). But overall, his life seemed simpler. It wasn't all about getting stronger.

"Oh…" Susumu sighed. He would have really liked to meet 'The Dobe.' He was an infamous character in the stories he weaseled out of his father before bed, always seeming to be two steps behind everyone but determined to finish first. Susumu didn't even know the dobe's name. His father just always referred to him as 'Dobe.' Susumu was a smart boy. Every time his father shared a rare childhood story, he could almost feel the friendship between the two boys. Susumu sometimes wondered if there was more than friendship between the two, but he never dared to ask.

Sasuke ran his fingers through his son's hair that was so much like his own. The gesture sparked an idea for another question. "What color hair did he have?"

"I don't know for sure. He had a bandana over it. But I can tell you his eyebrows were blond, and not that white blond either, or that really light brown color that people call blond. His blond was yellow, yellow like…like," he repeated, racking his brain for an appropriate comparison, "…like the sun."

"Yellow like the sun?"

"Yeah."

Yellow hair, blue cat-like eyes, _'Under my mask is…another mask.' _Sasuke remembered his old Sensei saying that. How would this Demon know that if he hadn't been around then? The more Sasuke thought about it, the more he couldn't deny the possibility. The Dobe had been Konoha's number one most-surprising, knuckle-headed ninja. If anyone had the ability to escape the destruction of Konoha, it would have been Naruto.

'_Could it really be you?'_

'…_Naruto…'_

_TBC_


	4. Catching the Uncatchable

A/N: Howdy! It's been a while, and that's no fault of yours. I have been away at a wonderful semester of college, and I found myself with little to no time to do any writing. But now, I have a month off. Maybe I can write a little. By the way, you may have noticed that I changed this story's classification a little. It's now no longer a tragedy, mainly because I can't stand to kill Naruto. I guess Naruto got lucky this time.

Chapter 4: Catching the Uncatchable

The stars and moon lit the clear winter night. It was bright and cold and quiet. Sasuke was comfortably warm underneath a thick blanket. Everything was right for slumber, but sleep would not come to him. Images of blond hair and blue eyes, a bright smile, one arm behind his head, sometimes sheepishly scratching his head…_'Naruto…_'

Sasuke rolled over again, trying to find a more comfortable position that might lull him to sleep. He closed his eyes again. The images replayed. Sasuke had suffered through years of nightmares all concerning that one dobe- dreams of his hand through his chest at the Valley of the End, dreams of red chakra exploding and taking Naruto with it into nothingness, dreams of some unknown character, always soaked in blood, Naruto's blood, killing him, slaying him. Sasuke had brooded for years over the deaths of his former leaf comrades, but always his thoughts centered on Naruto. Was it because he believed Naruto would have, should have protected everyone like he promised? Or was it because he missed Naruto the most?

Could Naruto still be alive?

Sasuke exhaled forcefully. This wouldn't do. He couldn't lay there all night wistfully thinking. It was not healthy, and it was making the Uchiha hopeful. Why should he get hopeful just so his hopes could be crushed? He should give it up now. There was no purpose. Sasuke turned again in bed. This time, he inhaled extra deeply.

A yawn sounded from a few feet over. "Dad…just go look for him. I promise to stay out of trouble."

Black eyes glinted in the moonlight from the window. "Hn," was the reply Susumu received.

The boy shook his head, giving up. And his father called him stubborn?

Much to his surprise, he heard the rustling of sheets indicating that his father was getting out of bed. He also heard the sounds of his father getting dressed up.

"I'm going for a walk," Sasuke said, closing the door to the room. He decided that a little stroll might do him some good, maybe clear his head.

How little did he know that instead of clearing his head, this little stroll would end up giving him more to brood about than he had had since his clan's massacre.

O0o.o0O

Shoukinto was a figure of legend- he was a living legend. Unfortunately, not all legends are true. Was he some great escaper? Yes. But was he uncatchable? Surely not. In fact, Shoukinto couldn't remember being chased in years. His reputation had discouraged many from trying. Also, he had learned how to avoid people best. Often times, those he helped often didn't even know he was there. Like tonight, this cold, clear night. Naruto was slinking down the alleyways of the slums of Grass country. This is where he was most needed this night. He could hear the hungry cries of children in their little homes, crammed together much too tightly with the mass of bodies occupying such little space. This was poverty. Naruto could never stand poverty. The family didn't even have enough money to buy a proper lock. It was much too easy for him to slip in the house. There was no furniture, only the barest necessities. Jobs were not scarce in Grass country, but it took money and a decent appearance to obtain one. No one in this family could afford to get a job…not yet. Shoukinto slipped some food into the small fridge jammed into a corner. He picked up the crying baby and comforted it, lest it wake its parents, grandparents, siblings, and cousins all living in this one small alley shack. The baby quieted after Naruto fed it from a bottle. The child fell asleep soundly and quietly. They say if you give a man a fish, he can eat for a day. If you teach him to fish, he can eat for a lifetime. Naruto could not teach this man to supply for his family, but he could motivate him and give him the means to supply for his family. A fresh set of clean clothes was left on the door handle, an "R" carved into the wall with a tip of his sword.

That was another part of his legend -- the carved letters -- his reminders. It had grown to be a legend of its own. Destitute people would wake one morning to find food in the fridge, fresh clothes, the type of clothes one could go to a job interview in, and an 'R' carved into the wall. They knew it was Shoukinto. They said that the 'R' meant 'responsibility.' Whose responsibility? Shoukinto never said, but people suddenly found themselves inspired by the symbol. It stayed on their wall, revered like an heir-loomed picture. Where there was no hope, suddenly there was some. So simple such a carven letter was, but with the legend of the Demon of Redemption behind it.

Naruto never corrected the people. It gave them the motivation they needed. His first adventure into the poverty of the cities had depressed him. He had given them food and money and watched them waste both away in self-destructive state. Why should they not? What difference would a little food and money make in their state of life?

Naruto was enraged to see his help wasted, to see these people's lives wasted. He wanted better for them. Did they?

His story and legend were already growing, so he used it to his advantage. He helped another family, this time leaving food and clothes instead of money. He was going to carve his name into the wall so that all would know that it was his doing when a person in the house awoke and saw him. He only had the 'R' of his name carved. The person recognized him.

"Shoukinto," the man had said, "What is the 'R' stand for?" the man had asked in awe.

Naruto did not want to ruin his legend with such a goof as getting caught writing his alias on the wall, so he said the first 'r' word to come to his mind.

"Responsibility," he had said before disappearing into the night.

"I see," the man whispered, "My family is my responsibility. I can not wait on the help of others all the time. Thank you…Shoukinto…"

That story spread from house to house and from town to town, deeply engraving it within the legend of Shoukinto.

Now about the time Naruto was leaving this particular shack-of-an-apartment, Sasuke caught the movement out of his peripheral vision in the distance as he hopped around the roofs of the cold clear night.

It was odd, he thought, for someone to be leaving a house so late, but then again, he himself was missing his slumber for a pacifying walk. Maybe this figure was doing the same. However, the figure then entered another house, picking the lock with unnatural ease. The figure had the stealthy grace of a ninja, but not the chakra of one. '_A thief, perhaps?'_ thought the raven.

Sasuke moved closer and studied the figure through the blind-less window and noticed how he left things rather than took. This was no thief. Ideas started to spark in the Uchiha's head, hope that this was the person he had been searching so long for. His heart was hammering in his own ears. Then came the tell-tale wall carve. This was undoubtedly _the_Shoukinto. Rechecking that his chakra was hidden, Sasuke hid himself from sight and waited to follow the Demon of Redemption.

O0o.o0O

Out of supplies and sleep-deprived, Naruto should have been ready to hit the sack soundly, but he just couldn't. All the way back from his last stop to his temporary encampment, he just couldn't shake the uncertain feeling. He couldn't place what exactly was making him so edgy. He fidgeted around camp for a few, before finally giving up with a grunt of annoyance to himself. He turned around to lie back in his sleeping bag and came face-to-face with a memory of the past. Black eyes tried to bypass his mask, tried to look through it to the mystery beneath.

'_Sasuke…'_

"Shoukinto…" said Sasuke.

'_Okay, play the stranger, Naruto. Don't blow your cover here, not now after so long. Not to Sasuke. He can't always win.'_

"And you are?" asked Naruto.

"Uchiha Sasuke, I believe we've met before, at least indirectly. Surely you remember?"

"Why don't you refresh my memory?"

"First the attack you coordinated against Orochimaru. I was to be his next body." There was a pause there where Sasuke was waiting for some type of recognition while Naruto had deemed to not say anything so that he didn't accidentally give anything away.

"Then you organized the final attack against Akatsuki. You left my brother alive. Why?"

"That was many years ago."

"You are not that old."

"How would you know?"

"Hn….Why did you leave Uchiha Itachi alive? You can at least give me a decent answer. I've been searching for you for nearly a decade."

"I did not ask you to search for me. Not my fault."

"My son told me about you saving him. I am thankful for that."

"No thanks needed. I do it because I can. I do it because I want to."

"I hear you do it because you have to. For redemption."

"Until I die, I can only hope for redemption."

"Did you do a lot of bad in your life?" Sasuke asked forcibly, yet his voice remained calm. Naruto had always wondered how the Uchiha did that.

"Did you?" Naruto shot back dryly.

"Nothing that kept me from sleeping at night."

"Then you are more lucky than others," Naruto concluded.

Silence again. Sasuke could tell by the other's stance that he was ready to flee at a moments notice, if only Sasuke would let down his guard. Sasuke quickly changed the subject again. He needed more time to study this individual.

"You are more lucid than I remember the stories saying."

"The stories also said that I was uncatchable. You seem adept at proving the stories wrong."

"A decade on the hunt for me seems a lot like uncatchable."

"And so I guess I will have to protect my legend."

Naruto bolted for it. He disappeared into the shrubbery of the woods around his campsite. Sasuke ignored the urge to roll his eyes. While Shoukinto's skill was legendary, Sasuke's was more tangible. He didn't have rumors to inflate his claims. He just knew that he had taken on Orochimaru and Itachi and succeeded. And now, he had caught the uncatchable.

But one thought stood among all others as he started his search for Shoukinto once more:_How did you survive if you really are…Naruto…_


End file.
